NDEC Wikimedia Bootcamp 2024: We did it!

^{[This is the first one of the series of three diff blogs about NDEC Wikimedia Bootcamp 2024]}

NDEC Wikipedia Editorial and Research Team has successfully completed the 2024 edition of NDEC Wikimedia Bootcamp – the signature outreach and recruitment campaign of the ECWO. Despite hundreds of challenges, we reached the finish line.

We are so proud of our team, and all the participants who won the edit challenge during the second half of the bootcamp!

We began with a video with clips from Wikimedians from all over the world to welcome the participants of the bootcamp – one of the most wholesome things that we did for the program. This video gave us a good kick start before the bootcamp. Watch the video below.

We had Chitraparna Sinha (India), Rosie Stephenson-Goodnight (USA), Jose Ignacio Gallardo (Chile), Nada Alfarra (Palestine), Nikos Likomitros (Greece), Euphemia Uwandu (Nigeria), Donia ElDomiaty (Egypt), and Melissa Guadalupe Huertas (Peru). Thanks to these amazing individuals for contributing to the cheerful atmosphere of this bootcamp.

The whole program is divided into two weeks: the first week is for learning, and the second week is for doing. The learning part consists of a series of three workshops, with a two-day gap between each session. The second week focuses on hands-on activities, with this year’s highlight being the “Edit Challenge.” Participants who make a total of 150 edits on any Wikimedia wiki would receive a printed certificate stating that they have won the Edit Challenge of the NDEC Wikimedia Bootcamp. How cool is that? Everyone can be a winner!!

Three editors with the top three edit counts will be especially recognized in a prize giving ceremony.

_{Some moments from the physical workshop of the Bootcamp. (Images by Wasiul Bahar, CC BY SA 4.0)}

Thanks to Wiki Club Jamia, whose edit challenge demonstrated the increased impact of micro-contributions for newcomers. We have shifted from Editathon to Edit Challenge format for our bootcamp taking inspiration from them.

We’d like to express our sincere gratitude to the Wikimedia Foundation’s Community Development team for their generous support with the online meeting solution. Additionally, we’re thankful to User:Gnoeee for the technical assistance throughout the bootcamp.

We published a handbook for the participants, and it truly paid off! This handbook served as a one-stop solution to most of their queries and included all the slide decks for the three workshops. We highly recommend checking it out.

The first workshop of the series was held in-person, bringing together over 150 legal minors for a Wikimedia event. This was a big responsibility for us. Despite the inherent safety of the college campus, the impact of this event extends beyond physical spaces. We deployed over 20 safety and hospitality volunteers in a distinguishable dress code to ensure a secure environment. Multiple layers of safety measures, both online and offline, were implemented to protect our young Wikimedians from vandals and harassers.

The most significant outcome of the bootcamp is the formation of a dynamic new group of Wikimedians who are poised to lead our initiatives in the Wikimedia community moving forward. The organizers for this year’s bootcamp were recruited from the 2022 edition, and we are confident that this year’s recruits will take the helm for NDEC Wikimedia Bootcamp 2026!

_{About the author: Towhidul Islam is the former Director of Communications (2023-2024) of NDEC Wikipedia Editorial and Research Team and led the communication work during the NDEC Wikimedia Bootcamp 2024.}